For the first couple of months on the Western Front our Barlick volunteers had an energetic time as part of a rapidly evolving situation. They were marched into new positions almost every day in what the strategists called a 'fluid situation'. They saw the realities of modern war for the first time but had the positive experience of being on what seemed to be the 'winning side'. The German offensive that was designed to quickly overrun Paris and allow troops to be moved to the East to fight the Russians failed. One of the main factors was the superiority of the French army and in particular, their modern 75mm quick firing field artillery. They could fire up to 20 rounds a minute and if loaded with bursting shells could tear an oncoming infantry attack to shreds. This was a surprise for the German generals and forced them to re-assess their tactics. This same revision went on in the Allied armies, they started to deploy their field artillery much further forward with the infantry and used their heavy artillery to bombard the enemy from behind the lines before an attack. Lessons were being learned and our poor volunteers watched as tactics evolved. Watching the Germans retreating doubtless encouraged them to continue believing in their original hope that they could be home for Christmas.
However, towards the end of 1914 all this changed. The allied armies had run out of momentum, ammunition was running low and troops were exhausted. It was decided to dig in on a defensive line facing the enemy and the Germans did the same thing. This was the start of trench warfare and eventually there was a line of opposing trenches from the Channel Coast to Switzerland. Our volunteers were going to have to learn a new skill, living below ground level. They soon learned not to make trenches straight but to zigzag them so that if a shell landed in a section the bend in the line shielded those in the next section. As it became obvious they were going to be there for a while they dug bunkers out at the back of the trench and roofed them as well as they could to afford some protection against plunging artillery fire.
The learning curve continued, they had to learn how to deal with lice and common ailments like 'trench-foot' which was caused by having permanently wet feet. An entirely different set of trenches had to be dug towards the rear to allow safe passage for movement of troops and supplies of food and ammunition. I once had to refurbish an old horizontal wood saw that was made in Rochdale by Tommy Robinson and installed in Stockport to make coffin boards. I found that during the Great War it was used exclusively for sawing timber to make duck boards for the trenches in an effort to keep the soldier's feet dry during wet weather. This was only one of the demands placed on home industry by the new warfare on the front.
The Robinson saw in Poynton Wood at Stockport.